Structures for supporting drink containers have been widely in use for some time, and are made with a wide variety of characteristics in mind. For example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/385,333 illustrates an Integrated Stowable Drink Holder for a Vehicle in which a device having opposing drink support arms were attached to a vertically oriented carriage, which also supported a cover which was used to provide a horizontal planar support for a drink cup.
The device including the opposing drink support arms, carriage, and cover work well together and have positive closure. The drink holder can be used by a specialized attachment to a structure, such as by inserting screws, bolts or rivets. Alternatively, adhesive or glue can be used to attach such a structure to the inside of a vehicle. However, although such attachment would yield a high utility drink holder having an aesthetic quality suitable for luxury automobiles, such attachment when done in the presence of existing drink support structures may result in wasted space.
Further, the presence of a high quality drink holder along with existing drink support structures may seem aesthetically undesirable. Further, users and especially guest users would tend to use the non-adjustable low quality holders first because they are the most visible. When the high quality, adjustable, foldable holders are in use, the lower quality holders equipped with the vehicle seem even more aesthetically unpleasing.
What is therefore needed is a structure which can utilize, and especially occupy the existing drink holder structures to provide support for the foldably stowable, adjustable high quality holders. The ability to accomplish this goal achieves a number of objectives. First, it makes the higher quality holder the only available holder for use in the vehicle, which reduces incidences of spillage due to its ability to better accommodate drink containers. Secondly, it eliminates the necessity to alter other surfaces, such as by the use of screws, rivets, glue and the like for installation of the drink holder. Thirdly, it eliminates the duplication of drink holder devices, insuring that the only drink holder used will be the best drink holder and which will minimize the incidence of spillage. In eliminating the duplication of drink holder devices, aesthetic utility is achieved by reducing the overall number of drink holders. Fourthly, from a space efficiency standpoint, the utilization of the existing drink holder space to support a higher quality drink holder conserves space in the vehicle and prevents waste of the existing drink holder space.
Other drink holder support devices are known, but none which seem to take full advantage of the existing drink holder space. U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,784 issued to Kayali on Dec. 19, 1989 and entitled "Adjustable Drink Holder" discloses an articulating clamping device which must depend from a thin structure to obtain support. U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,887 issued to Campbell on Feb. 21, 1995 and entitled "Adjustable Beverage Container Holder for use in Vehicles" discloses a fish-hook grasping platform and a set of spring bands.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,255 issued to Marcusen on May 31, 1994 and entitled "Vacuum Container Holder" discloses an elaborate vacuum table to pull down on a beverage container. U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,770 issued to Louthan on Oct. 5, 1995 and entitled "Beverage Container Holder" discloses a hanging beverage holder. U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,649 issued to Hunnicutt on Oct. 1, 1991 and entitled "Drink Holder Adapter" discloses an elaborate combination of a cage having upper and lower cage sections, an upper insulator to fit within the upper cage, the drink container to fit in the upper insulator, the lower portion of the cage to fit within a drink space in an arm rest. U.S. Pat. No. 5,326,064 issued to Sapien on Jul. 5, 1994 and entitled "Holder for Preventing Spills" discloses a device which encourages spills to run through an annular gap in the holder to collect in a bottom reservoir.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,195 issued to Dane on Aug. 4, 1992 and entitled "Beverage Receptacle Holder" discloses an enlarged upper round section and a smaller lower round section having extending lengths of material for grasping. This holder is not collapsible and occupies a significant amount of space. U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,673 issued to Chandler on Feb. 18, 1992 and entitled "Cup Adapter for use in Cylindrical Sockets" discloses an adapter device similar to that of Dane, above, but the construction is smooth cylindrical with a slot to accommodate a handle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,534 issued to Robert L. Mitchell on Dec. 29, 1992 and entitled "Container Adapter" discloses a two diameter sized cylindrical sleeve and annular adapter portion, which provides an upward extension of a lower annular space. U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,145 issued to Evans et al on Jul. 19, 1994 and entitled "Holder for Drinking Vessels" discloses a mug adapter. U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,709 issued to Yuen et al on Jul. 23, 1991 and entitled "Holding Device" discloses a complex mechanical device with dual translation spring loaded urged members.
None of the above devices provide an adjustable drink holder to depend from an existing drink space which also provides for foldable deployment and stowage. All of the above devices are not structures which would synergize with the interior of a luxury automobile, from a standpoint of either space savings, aesthetics, or cup support utility. What is therefore needed are designs which permit the existing structures within an automobile to be taken advantage of in a useful, aesthetically pleasing and attractive manner, and which can be somewhat customized to the particular type of drink support or other utility support space within a vehicle.